You drive through nondescript villages populated mainly by ethnic Turks, past animal farms that stink of dung and mosques whose minarets stick up into the sky, until a turn of the road takes you directly opposite a site that suggests North America rather than the Balkans.

Whether you are attracted by the few remaining pristine beaches along the southern Black Sea coast, the quaint if overcommercialised streets of the old towns of Nesebar and Sozopol, or the endless parties at the popular resorts, you are bound to stop in or at least bypass Burgas.